Graphics Card

fixler wrote on 11/10/2004, 1:25 AM

Hey Guys. I understand that what I am asking has been discussed a thousand times but I just can't make up my mind! If you would be kind enough to give my some final advice I would really appreciate it!

I am about to upgrade my graphics card but can't make up my mind. I equire Dual Monitor (at least 1 x DVI). The MATROX MILLENIUM P650s & 750 seem extremely well recommended but I am unsure of wheather I will be just aswell off buying an ATI or NVIDIA card. Any luck?

I would also like to know if there is any hope of Vegas supporting the TV out feature of the P750, as then I would consider the P750 quite seriously.

Thanks for any asssistance you guys offer, I really appreciate it!
-Sorry to be bringing up an already well debated topic.

Comments

musman wrote on 11/10/2004, 1:57 AM

My understanding is that regardless of the nle, video out from the graphics card is not to be trusted for video editing. I was told firewire is the only way.
I also would mention that I bought the g550 with my turnkey 2 years ago. I works great with vegas, but I'm now using Boris Red a lot and will start using after effects and possibly Combustion as well and a better graphics card would be nice for use with them. A least, I know it would help Boris a lot.

fixler wrote on 11/10/2004, 9:55 PM

Thanks musman...Any one else?

Laurence wrote on 11/10/2004, 10:14 PM

I had I really fast graphics card: so fast it needed an incredibly loud fan to keep it cool. I ended up downgrading to Radeon 9000 with 128 meg memory. At the time that was about as good a card as you could get with passive cooling. I don't neccessarily recommend that card, but you might think about how loud whatever graphics card you get is. Some of them sound like little vacuum cleaners!

Another thing: I have limited space in my "studio" so as my second monitor I have a Samsung SyncMaster LCD TV/monitor. I can use it either as a second computer monitor or as a TV using a Canopus Firewire to DV convertor. It really works quite well. I can use it either way. Often when I start a project, I like to drag clips out of a Windows explorer window right onto the Vegas timeline. Further into editing, a full TV preview is pretty much essential, so I switch to that mode. I didn't really have the space for two monitors plus a TV. This was quite a good compromise. Also, for those like me planning to go HDV with one of the new Sonys, I don't believe Firewire preview will be possible with HDV footage.

Steve Mann wrote on 11/10/2004, 10:29 PM

Unless you are planning to use Boris or play games, go for cheap. Vegas doesn't use the hardware accellerator features of the video cards. A pair of cheap PCI cards or any dual-head card will work just fine.

fixler wrote on 12/8/2004, 11:29 PM

Is it worth buying a Matrox-650/750?

nickle wrote on 12/9/2004, 12:07 AM

I shopped around quite a bit and settled on an ATI all-in-wonder 9600XT.

It is dual head (crt) 128MB ram and very fast.

It has openGl support which is being implemented by most video editing progs.

It supports DX9.

I can capture at DVD resolution from TV or vcr.

I can watch TV or listen to FM radio.

It has a remote control so I can use it as a Tivo and save mpeg files or avi to the hard drive.

It is supported by MS Media Center if I want to go that route.

I like it for what it does and for what it will do.

I had an ATI all-in-wonder pro with 4MB ram for about 7 or 8 years but it dropped frames at higher resolution, but then the hard drives then were much slower.

It is priced about the same as the Matrox.

fixler wrote on 12/9/2004, 12:21 AM

Thanks nickle!

The only reason i'm considering sticking with the matrox is baecause it has the TV output-preview monitor compatible. Even though Vegas is the only video editing software that dosn't support it.

Does anyone have any news on Vegas offering support for this?

fixler wrote on 12/9/2004, 12:41 AM

Sorry nickle. Can you actually record to MPEG-2 for DVD through your graphics card?

jkrepner wrote on 12/9/2004, 11:35 AM

Fixler,

I have the Matrox Parhelia triple head card, and it works well with Vegas. I don't use the NTSC out with Vegas, but do with other apps. As stated earlier in the thread, the NTSC output on most VGA cards is not good for editing, the frame rate is interpolated (or something) I think.

nickle wrote on 12/9/2004, 11:39 AM

I can record mpeg2 at 720x480 to the hard drive. Right now I have 15GB free space which gives over 4 hours record time.

But if I wanted to record something from vcr or tv to play with in Vegas, I could capture AVI.

Instead of dual monitors, there is TV out capability either composite or s-video. HDTV is an optional converter.

For all the specs, see http://www.ati.com/products/multimedia.html
and compare prices and features.

I will say one thing negative though, it works great with the software that came with it, but ATI updates are mickey mouse ®. At least in my experience because of all the components.

fixler wrote on 12/22/2004, 2:30 AM

Hey Guys. Thanks for all you help!

Just got my Matrox P650! Works a charm and the graphics are stunning!!

Thanks again

John_Cline wrote on 12/22/2004, 6:09 AM

The Matrox cards have always been known for their ultra-clean output. They simply produce a much higher quality signal. Even my old Matrox G400 looks noticeably better than any of my newer Nvidia or ATI cards. The G400 certainly isn't faster, but looks better. For image quality, the P650, P750 or Parhelia can't be beat.

John